Faculty of Environment &

Technology
Academic Year: 2014/15
Examination Period: January

Module Leader: John Parkin

Module Code: UBGLXP-15-3
Title of Module: Traffic Safety and Management
Work Item Code: CC1

Duration of Examination: 2 Hours

Standard materials required for this examination:

Examination Answer Booklet Yes

Multiple Choice Answer Sheet No

Type of paper e.g. G3, G14 G3
Graph Paper
Number of sheets per student 1

Additional materials required for this examination:

Details of additional material supplied by UWE:

To be collected with Answer Booklet (please delete as appropriate) N/A

Details of approved material supplied by Student:

Students MUST bring with them their own copy of the Transport Data Sheet.
Students are allowed to have annotated this sheet before the examination.

To be collected with Answer Booklet (please delete as appropriate) No

University approved Calculator Yes

Candidates permitted to keep Examination Question Paper Yes

Candidates are NOT permitted to turn the page

over until the exam starts
.

UBGLXP-15-3 Page 1 of 3
Instructions to Candidates:

Candidates must answer all THREE questions.

Question 1: Traffic flow and speed

1) a) i) Describe and contrast data what is recorded as part of a manual

volume count, and surveys of origins and destinations.
ii) Identify difficulties with each type of survey and suggest
alternative methods.
iii) Suggest uses to which each type of data might be put.
6 marks
b) Estimate the 95% confidence interval for Annual Average Daily Traffic
(AADT) from a 12 hour count of 30,000 vehicles, which itself has a
95% confidence interval of 10% and is taken at an inter-urban road in
May. Comment on the size of the estimated confidence interval
relative to that of the original count. Relevant factors and coefficients
of variation are provided in Table Q1.1 and Table Q1.2 below. A 95%
confidence interval is represented by ±1.96 standard deviations from
the mean.
14 marks
c) Estimate the eighty-fifth percentile speeds on two roads where the
mean speeds and standard deviations of speed have been
determined as follows: Road A: 𝑥̅ = 51.5𝑘𝑝ℎ, and 𝑠 = 8.5𝑘𝑝ℎ, Road B:
𝑥̅ = 52.3𝑘𝑝ℎ, and 𝑠 = 1.8𝑘𝑝ℎ. Suggest, with reasons, which road may
be more susceptible to speed related collisions.
5 marks
Total 25 marks

Table Q1.1: E-Factors for converting 12-hour to 16-hour flows

Road Type E CVE
Main-Urban 1.18 4%
Inter-Urban 1.15 3.5%
Recreational/Inter-Urban 1.13 2.5%

Table Q1.2: M-Factors for converting 16-hour flows to 24-hour AADT

Main Urban Inter-Urban Recreational/
Inter-Urban
M CVM M CVM M CVM
April 1.016 6.5% 1.115 8% 1.271 12%
May 0.989 6.5% 1.071 8% 1.140 10%
September 1.005 6.5% 1.016 8% 0.962 11%
October 1.000 6.5% 1.068 8% 1.142 12%

UBGLXP-15-3 Page 2 of 3
Question 2: Traffic safety

2) a) i) Differentiate between an accident investigation and a safety

audit. Summarise the stages in a single site investigation and a
safety audit.
6 marks
ii) Explain why police recorded STATS19 data may be unreliable.
2 marks
b) Collision data for the Lockleaze Ward in Bristol shows a reduction in
personal injury collisions from 371 in the period 2005 to 2008 (four
years) to 273 in the period 2010 to 2013 (four years). If during the
year 2009 there had been a road safety campaign, and with no other
information about district wide changes in personal injury collisions,
would you say the campaign had been successful? Use the chi-
squared test and select a significance level for testing, stating reasons
why you have chosen that level.
8 marks
c) All personal injury accidents in the rest of the district, which may be
assumed to have been unaffected by the road safety campaign, were
4153 in 2005 to 2008 reducing to 3564 in the period 2010 to 2013. Is
the reduction in personal injury accidents in (b) still significant at any
reasonable level of confidence when set against this general decline?
9 marks

Total 25 marks

Question 3: Traffic Management

3 Observations of the space mean speed (Vs) and traffic flow (Q) were made
at different times of the day on a highway as shown in Table Q4.

Vs (kph) 78 63 53 38 23
Q (veh/hr) 1755 2615 2783 2663 2047
Table Q3
a) i) Draw a graph to determine the free speed (Vf) and the jam density
(Dj) Assume a linear relationship between speed (Vs) and traffic
density (D).
ii) Estimate the maximum flow (Qmax).
iii) Comment on the likely shape of the speed/density relationship if a
limit of 70km/hr was in operation.
14 marks

b) Assuming a linear relationship between speed and traffic density, sketch the
relationships for speed against flow, and flow against density, and indicate
the position of the free speed, the jam density and the maximum flow where
appropriate on each graph.
4 marks

c) Discuss methods for managing lorry movements in urban areas to minimise

their environmental impact.
7 marks

Total 25 marks
END OF QUESTION PAPER

UBGLXP-15-3 Page 3 of 3